


Ariel and little friends

by Isa_in_Fandomland



Category: Disney - All Media Types, The Little Mermaid (1989), Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Ariel basically being a big sister, Fluff, Gen, Side Story, Slight references to The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isa_in_Fandomland/pseuds/Isa_in_Fandomland
Summary: A self-conceived story about the Octatrio meeting Ariel when they we're kids.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading my story. The idea of the Octatrio meeting Ariel when they we're younger came from a fanart I saw. It's my first time posting a story on this site, so I hope this was a good first time. Sorry for any grammar mistakes. (English is not my mother tongue) Enjoy!
> 
> Link to fanart: https://www.instagram.com/p/CAvFTeRn-ij/

On a sunny day under the sea, the mighty kingdom Atlantica stood proudly and towered over the entire ocean. Inside the castle walls in a tower higher up, a red haired mermaid, named Ariel was counting the time away. Ariel was bored, her father Triton was busy, and her sisters we’re occupied too. Even Flounder, her best friend, couldn’t play with her today. Ariel sighed and looked out the window, looking over Atlantica and watching the passing-by merfolk. 

“I guess I’ll go for a quick swim.” thought the red haired mermaid to herself. “Maybe I can find more human items today for my cave.” 

Ariel left her room and informed the servant crab Sebastian, that she would be outside for a little while. While swimming through the underwater kingdom, Ariel was fantasizing what new findings she would discover today. Suddenly, she passed by what seemed to be a empty playground. Ariel smiled at the sight while remembering her and her sisters playing here too. She was planning to swim away, while she suddenly heard a smile cry among laughing children. She turned around and looked puzzlingly around the playground to look for the source.  
She noticed a small area that was separated from the playground. Three mermaid children we´re standing around some kind of small cave in the rocks. One of them was the first to speak up.

“Hahaha! Look at him! Crying like the pathetic little crybaby he is!” The tone of the mermaid boy sounded really bully-like. Ariel looked at the display a few meters in front of her. She heard the small crying again. It seemed to come from the cave.

“When are you going to apologize huh?” said another mermaid kid. “Don’t you know it’s rude to suddenly ink on people?”  
A scared voice came from the cave. 

“I-I d-didn’t m-mean too. Y-you suddenly s-scared me…” 

The three kids scoffed. “Well wouldn’t you know it.” said the leader of the three. “He’s a crybaby and a scaredy cat. If you’re really sorry, come out of the cave so you I can give you what you deserve.”

Ariel felt herself becoming more angry and started to approach the situation. “Hey! You three!” The kids turned their faces to the mermaid princess with a confused expression. Ariel crossed her arms and started to address the kids.

“I get that you want to get an apology, but what I just saw was just straight up bullying. Whoever made you angry already said they was sorry, so shouldn’t that be enough?”

Ariel was trying to look at the kid with the same strict expression she always saw her father use. It seemed to work since two of the kids we’re beginning to look scared. Their leader however, didn’t seem to be affected yet.

“Huh, and why should I listen to you? I don’t need a stupid grown up to meddle in with my problems.” One of the kids approached the leader with a troubled expression. He began to whisper.

“Dude, can’t you see that’s one of Triton’s daughters!” The leading kid’s expression changed and Ariel knew how to make use of the situation.

“That’s right, and I think it would be best for you to run along now before I bring my father the King into this” said Ariel with a warning. She wouldn’t do that of course, her father wouldn’t have time to interfere with childish problems like these. However, all three kids seemed to take it seriously and all had guilty expressions on their faces. 

“W-we’re so sorry princess! We won’t do it again, please don’t tell our parents!” The kids bowed quickly to Ariel and swam away as fast as they could. Ariel sighed while she watched the bullies swam away.  
Suddenly she heard soft crying from the little cave behind her. Ariel tried to look into the cave, that was too small to fit her. The cave was dark and she couldn’t see who the victim was of the bullying.

“You can come out now.” said Ariel into the cave. “I scared them away.” She waited for a bit but no sound came back to her. Ariel began to get worried. “Hey, you don’t have to be afraid. They didn’t hurt you did they? Come out the cave so I can see you.” Finally a small crying could be heard along with a tiny stuttering voice.

“I-I don’t w-want to come out. Y-you’ll just say I’m u-ugly. J-Just l-like the o-others” Ariel sighed but smiled.

“Of course I wouldn’t say that. I don’t judge others based on their appearance. You didn’t mean to make those kids angry did you?”

A moment of silence

“N-no…” said the tiny voice. Ariel giggled. 

“Well, then it should be fine for you to come out right?”

It was silent again but after a while a small sigh could be heard from inside the tiny cave. 

“P-Promise you won’t l-laugh at me?” said the voice.  
“I promise.” said Ariel and she reached her hand down the tiny cave. 

Suddenly she felt something reach for her hand that didn’t feel like another person’s hand. When she looked better, she saw tiny black and purple tentacles slowly wrap around her hand. Ariel pulled backwards to help the kid come out of the dark tiny cave. At last she could finally see the victim. 

It was a boy around the age of nine. He had wavy hair with a silver-blue color. It was a bit parted to the right and had one lock of long hair along the left side of his face. His eyes we’re a darker color than his hair and we’re turquoise-blue. He also had a beauty mark under his lip. Instead of a mermaid tail, Ariel saw that the kid had octopus tentacles on his lower body and the black and purple of the tentacles covered his entire skin. He also was a bit on the chubby side.  
The octopus kid looked with a pouting expression to Ariel, who was still inspecting the tentacles. 

“S-stop staring!” said the kid. Ariel snapped back and looked at the kid who still had tears in his eyes and seemed like who could cry at any moment again.

“Oh my, I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve never seen an octopus merman before.” The kid scoffed and looked away.

“But anyway, why we’re you being bullied? What happened?”

The kid turned his head to mermaid with a sad expression. He sighed.  
“I-I don’t know. I was just waiting here for my friends, a-and those kids started to p-pull on my tentacles. I-I got s-scared and inked on them. T-They got angry and I hid inside that cave. I-I really didn’t mean to! 

Tears began to form again in the turquoise eyes of the octopus kid and he tried to cover his face with his hands, apparently not wanting Ariel to see him cry. Ariel lowered herself to the kids face to wipe the tears away. The octopus kid expression changed to a surprised one and he looked Ariel in the eyes. The mermaid smiled.

“I know it’s not your fault. Those kids shouldn’t have suddenly touched you. It was their fault for not respecting your boundaries.”  
Ariel saw the kid looking at her with hopeful eyes and she felt she was slowly beginning to win the kid’s trust. 

“First things first I guess I’ll tell you my name first, since you kind of already know who I am.” said the red-haired mermaid. “I’m Ariel, princess of Atlantica. Can you tell me your name too?”  
The octopus kid seemed hesitant to give his name, but eventually complied.

“…zul..”  
The kid spoke quietly and Ariel leaned in to hear it better. 

“Sorry?”

“My name. It’s Azul…” 

Ariel smiled to herself. She was happy that the kid seemed less scared of her. “Azul?” said Ariel. “That’s a very pretty name. Nice to meet you little Azul.”  
Complimenting his name seemed to make the little octopus kid blush.

“Hmpf, It’s not that special.” said Azul. Ariel giggled.

“That reminds me, you said you we’re waiting for your friends didn’t you? Do you know when they-”

“Azul! We’re here to play just like we promised!”

“Oi squishy octopus! Where are you hiding?”

Ariel was interrupted by two yelling voices that came from behind her. She and Azul both turned around to the source. She saw two silhouettes approaching them. Eventually, the silhouettes we’re revealed to be two other kids who seemed to be around the same age as Azul. Both kids had short turquoise hair with both a darker strand that was parted on one side of their heads. They also had two different colors of eyes, one a bright yellow and the other an olive green. Ariel immediately noticed that the kids we’re twins, and both kids had a strange tail too, that seemed to look like eel tails.  
The twins eventually began to swam closer to Ariel and Azul. They seemed to be surprised by the much older mermaid that was currently standing next to their friend.

“Ooh! Who is this pretty lady Azul? A new playmate?”

One of twins, the one who had the strand parted on his right side, started to approach the mermaid first and began to swam around her curiously.  
“Oya? Azul you didn't tell us about this” said the other twin who had the strand parted on his left side. Azul seemed to be taken aback by the sudden questions of the twins. 

“Uhm… miss Ariel. These are the f-friends I was waiting for. They are-”  
“I’m Floyd Leech miss! Nice to meet you! You have really pretty hair…” The kid with the parted strand to the right, whose name was apparently Floyd, began inspecting Ariel’s red locks. 

“Well, since my brother already introduced him, My name is Jade Leech miss Ariel.” The other twin brother who seemed to had a little more manners, was the one with the strand parted to the left.

“Nice meeting you two too.” said Ariel with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

“Nice meeting you two too.” said Ariel with a smile. Both twin brothers smiled and Ariel saw that the twins both had spiky teeth as well. Azul coughed and Ariel and the twins turned their heads to them.

“Right.” said Ariel. “I’m actually here because I chased some bullies away who we’re bothering your friend Azul here. They we’re pulling on his tentacles and we’re cornering him in a cave”  
Jade and Floyd both seemed to be surprised but disappointed at the same time.

“Azul, we told you that you need stand up for yourself more. You can’t let yourself get bullied without fighting back you know.” Jade sighed and Azul looked offended.

“I-I tried to fight back! But I accidently inked on them and they got angry!”

“Aw man. Squishy octopus is gonna get eaten at this rate, if he keeps getting bullied like this.” Floyd swam around Ariel’s tail and looked behind it to Azul. Ariel looked down to Floyd.

“Hey! No one’s going to get eaten here” said Ariel who already saw that Floyd’s comment brought tears in Azul again.

“And besides, Azul was on his own and the bullies we’re a group of three. He couldn’t have fought back even if he wanted too.”  
Ariel’s comment seemed to bring hope into Azul’s face. 

“T-That’s right! It’s just as miss Ariel said! And when I finally have perfected my magic, I will show them for sure!”

It was silent for a moment. Ariel looked with a surprised expression to Azul, who looked like he just said something he didn't want to. 

“You…You can use magic Azul? That’s amazing!” 

Azul’s face immediately turned bright red again. The Leech twins noticed it to and the two began to swam next to the red-haired mermaid with big smirks on their faces.

“That’s right miss Ariel. Little Azul here has a really unique power” whispered Jade silently but still loud enough so that the embarrassed Azul could hear it too. 

“He once helped a mermaid kid with getting a girlfriend, in exchange for his voice. He also gave a kid from another class beautiful hair in exchange for their fast swimming tail”

Floyd began to whisper to the mermaid too.  
“Yep, yep. Little octopus is very talented. When we first met him, we saw he could draw magic circles in the sand while reading grimoires at the same time. Ain’t our Azul very special Jade?”

“Yes, I completely agree Floyd.”

Both brothers smirked at one another. Ariel gave a suspicious look to the cheeky twins. 

“Can you two stop talking about me while I’m standing right here!”

Ariel and the twins looked at Azul, who was now redder than a tomato and had his hands on his hips. Ariel was still lost in her own thoughts, she didn't knew if the 'magic' that the twins we're talking about was real or something made up. Maybe Azul was just good in helping people. However, the twins seemed to be serious about their friend's abilities. Ariel decided to no longer think about it and smiled to Azul. 

“Haha, you don't have to be embarrassed Azul." said the red-haired mermaid. "I'm sure you will defeat all the bullies who have wronged you one day with your special magic!"  
Ariel said that last line with a playful tone and raised her biceps. Azul looked at the red-haired mermaid again, still kind of flushed.

"Oh! W-Well, if miss Ariel says so..."

The twins laughed and began to hug the flustered octopus kid. Ariel smiled at the cute display in front of her. She never would have imagined to meet such interesting kids.

"Princess Ariel!"

A yelling voice could be heard behind and Ariel looked behind her. That yelling voice could belong none other than Sebastian. It was time for Ariel to return to the palace again. The trio of kids saw that the mermaid was getting ready to leave.

"Ah shoot, I have to go back home. Azul, you'll be fine now that you're with Jade and Floyd right? I'll leave you three to it now."

Ariel was beginning to swim away while suddenly being stopped by tiny pulling tentacles on her arm.

"Wait!"

Ariel looked over her shoulder and saw Azul pulling on her arm. The octopus kid had a sad expression on his face now. He looked like he wanted to say something before the mermaid could leave. 

"M-Miss Ariel, could you p-please play with us again sometime?"

That was a question that Azul didn't had to ask twice. The red-haired mermaid smiled and patted Azul on the head. Ariel noticed that his hair was incredibly soft.

"Of course! I would love to. I'm always inside the palace nowadays so come get me when you want to play"

Azul's eyes lit up and the twins began to cheer.

"Yay! Miss Ariel is gonna be our new playmate!" yelled Floyd.

"Fufufu, it seems we all have taken a liking to you miss Ariel. Especially Azul here." said Jade with a big smile.

"H-Hey!" said Azul who turned around to the twins.

Ariel giggled again and waved the trio of kids goodbye. She made her way to the palace while thinking about what happened today. She also began to think again about what the twins whispered to her. She was still wondering if Azul really could use special magic. The only person she knew who was capable of doing that was her father, but maybe it was the truth. However, she stopped thinking about is as soon as she was inside the castle walls.


	3. Chapter 3

A few days later, Ariel was in her room again brushing her hair in the mirror, getting ready for a new day. Her sister's we're busy with themselves as well, while doing their daily bickering again. It started as usual with Aquata claiming what she thought we're her possesions. 

"I'm telling you this pillow is mine!" said Aquata. "Look my initial is on it!" The blue tailed mermaid raised the pillow while revealing a gold 'A' that was sewed into the back. Arista, the red tailed mermaid tried to grab the pillow back.

"We already told you many times Aquata, all our names start with an 'A'." Attina sighed while looking irritated to her sisters bickering. Aquata's eyes immediately lit up in realisation.

"Oh! Yeah that's true, haha sorry." Aquata dropped to pillow on her sister's bed, resulting in Arista immediately grabbing it while giving Aquata a dirty look.

Attina rolled her eyes while making her bed. While doing so, she seemed to notice that Ariel wasn't at all affected by the bickering, nor was she paying attention to it. Her youngest sister seemed to be in her own world again. Attina started to approach the youngest sister.

"Hey Ariel." said the orange tailed mermaid. Ariel looked over her shoulder to Attina. "You seem to be in a good mood again today." Ariel looked with a big smile to her sister.

"Am I? I didn't knew I was making it so obvious." Adella, the boy-crazy mermaid, immediately meddled in with the conversation.

"Is it a boy? Please tell me it's a boy!" All the other sister's laughed.

"If it's something else it will probably get all of us into trouble again." said Andrina, the pink tailed mermaid. "Remember that time with Marina del Rey?" Ariel looked up from the mirror.

"Hey! If that whole incident didn't happen, father would have never allowed us to make music again." said Ariel with a smirk. Andrina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I guess so..." Attina laughed.

"But anyway, what is it really?" said the oldest sister. "We're all dying to know at this point."

Ariel pretended as if she thought for a long time, making all six sister's turn their heads to her. 

"Well it kinda is about a boy, three small one's to be exact."

All six sisters looked confused to the youngest mermaid. Ariel began to tell the story about what happened with Azul and the twins.

"Aww. That's adorable!" said Adella when Ariel was done. "You're so good with kids Ariel. Even though you're the youngest, I always thought you would be the first of us to get kids."

Ariel laughed and all sisters followed. Suddenly a swordfish, who was one of the palace's guards, swam into the room of the princesses. The guard had a confused look on his face and turned to Ariel.

"Princess Ariel. Could you come with me to the palace's gates please? There's some peculiar visitors wanting you to come outside."

Ariel's eyes lit up and the mermaid left the room, following the swordfish guard to the palaces gates. When she was almost there, Ariel could hear a loud discussion going on.

"I already told you kids to scram! The princess is busy and doesn't have time to play with little brats like you three!"

"But miss Ariel told us she would be our new playmate!"

"Sorry sir, but we really just want to ask the princess ourselves if she can play today,"

"Oi Jade, can't I just squish the guards so we can get in?"

Ariel immediatly recognized the voices. When she and the guard we're finally outside, she could see the grand palace gates with the two guards standing outside it. Of course the kids who we're trying to get inside, we're none other than Azul, Jade and Floyd who seemed to we're trying to get past the strict merman guards. The swordfish sighed.

"They we're claiming that you agreed to play with them. Do you know those kids princess?"

Ariel smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, I'll take it from here." The swordfish guard looked suspiciously but eventually made his way back into the palace. Ariel began to swam to the palace gates. She immediatly was noticed by the three kids.

"Miss Ariel! You're here!" Floyd swam to the palace gates and grabbed the bars. Jade and Azul followed him, grabbing the bars and looking with hopeful faces to the mermaid. All three kids wanted their new playmate to come out.

"Hey! Step away you three!" the guards pushed the kids away from the gates wich resulted in the three of them looking offended. 

"Princess, these kids we're trying to get into the palace. They we're asking specifically for you, recognise any of them?" said one of the merman guards. Ariel laughed again.

"Yeah, I know them alright. You can open the gates, tell father I'll be outside for a while. "

The merman guard bowed and opened the gates. At last, the mermaid swam through the gates to greet her little friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Protect the octatrio babies at all costs ❤


End file.
